


Angela Alone

by graphix



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Universe, F/F, Fluff, Mild Language, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 05:46:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8192431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graphix/pseuds/graphix
Summary: The inability to save a loved one haunts her to this day. That’s why Angela is always alone. But her determination to remain alone doesn’t last for long.





	1. Act I - Mercy

**3:36 AM**

Angela poured the last of the wine into her glass. She took a sip and sprawled out onto her bed, the fluffy sheets enveloping her as she sunk further into the mattress.

In her many years of being a part of Overwatch, and the countless times her fellow agents have tried to date her, Dr. Angela Ziegler was happily content with her strong resolve to never be with anyone. The thought of being unable to save someone she truly loved was far too painful for her to relive.

That was until Fareeha Amari arrived.

She haphazardly rolled to grab her laptop off the bedside table. Clicking a few buttons and spilling a couple drops of the merlot, she finally managed to pull up the medical profile of her patient. 

**Call sign: Pharah**

**Name: Fareeha Amari**

**Age: 32**

**Nationality: Egyptian**

**Base of Operations: Giza, Egypt**

**Occupation: Chief of Security**

**Affiliation: Helix Security, Intl.**

She studied the photo of a serious-looking Fareeha attached to the file intensely through her inebriated vision. Angela recalls the first time she was reunited with Fareeha after the resurgence of Overwatch. 

After giving a long, but necessary brief on the essence of supporters and their importance to the Overwatch team, she was stopped by someone she, at first, mistook for Ana. Fareeha, the little girl five years her junior that she’d play with nearly twenty years ago, is now a grown – and strikingly beautiful – woman. Horus tattoo and all. 

She slammed the laptop shut and downed her glass of wine. She didn’t want to picture her face in any situation possible. 

But she couldn’t. 

Fareeha was everywhere: in her mind, in her workplace, and in her vicinity. Despite her objections, Jack Morrison happened to place Pharah directly across the hallway from her quarters.

_“It’s Ana’s girl. The most we can do for Ana is help her get accommodated. You know her better than we do, so you’re the perfect candidate to assist in that.”_

Angela cursed under her breath. 

It began like every normal doctor-to-patient relationship at first. Fareeha would come in punctually for exams, check ups, and so on. However, the headstrongness that she possessed would end up being Angela’s downfall. Fareeha’s “first to fight, last to die” mentality resulted in her ending up in Angela’s medical ward more often than the average agent. Fareeha’s natural charm was enough for Angela’s head to start reeling, and for her resolve to start cracking.

Half of Angela wanted to avoid Fareeha and break off any kind of infatuation her fellow agent may have for her before it flourishes into something serious.

But the other half of Angela wanted to storm in there and have Fareeha tear her clothes off and fuck her senseless.

Angela chuckled at the scandalous thought and fell back into the bed. She closed her eyes. 

It’d be best for her to sleep off this drunkenness and think more about this situation with a clearer and more focused mind.


	2. Act II - Mercy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The inability to save a loved one haunts her to this day. That’s why Angela is always alone. But her determination to remain along doesn’t last for long.

**8:41 PM – Dorado**

In retrospect, heavily drinking before a mission seemed like a logical thing to do at the time.

Angela groaned as she sat on the payload of medical supplies. She cracked open a crate full of ibuprofen and grabbed one of the bottles. She popped the recommended dosage of pills in her mouth and swallowed them whole. They did virtually nothing to soothe the throbbing. So much for the wonders of modern medicine.

She closed her eyes and lied down as her teammates scouted the way ahead. Surprisingly, the pain in her head decreased. She enjoyed these moments of peace and quiet. These moments where she was solitarily alone. The calm before the storm.

A loud thump shook the entire payload and snapped Angela out of her trance. Peace and quiet would not last long tonight. Readying her pistol, she shot up and aimed towards the epicenter of the sound.

“Ugh.” She sighed and lowered her guard when she realized the sound came from the ridiculous clunking of Pharah’s Raptora suit.

“Fareeha Amari. Graceful as ever.” Angela sat back down, rubbing her temples. The hangover had hit her again like a brick wall. “Must you always drop down like  _that_?”

Fareeha shrugged. “How else would I descend?”

“Nicely? More delicately?”

She smiled through her helmet. “Not every suit has wonderful descending capabilities like the one your Valkyrie has, Doctor Ziegler. I can only  _hover_.”

Silence lingered between the two of them as they escorted the payload, steadily making its way towards its destination.

“Well then, what is it that you need?” Angela asked, her Caduceus staff readily available to heal or buff her fellow agent. “Healing? Buffing? A quick patching up?”

“Nothing at all.”

Angela’s eyes widened.

“I just want to relax.” Fareeha said. She clamored over towards where Angela sat and plopped down. Angela quickly got off the payload, her face getting hot. She didn’t want to get any closer to another agent of Overwatch, especially one named Fareeha Amari. She also didn’t want Fareeha to see her increasingly red face.

“I-I should really get back to the fight then, since you’re here. You´ll be in charge of securing the payload-”

“Wait!”

An arm extended and grabbed her hand.

“Stay. Please.”

“But support is needed out there!”

Fareeha scoffed. “Morrison has enough biotic emitters on him that he could heal every agent in Overwatch.” She held up her fingers. “Twice.”

She did have a point. Jack was always known for having an endless supply of healing. It’s what made him so independent of a healer. Angela ended up caving in. She sat back down next to Fareeha. After all, who could say ‘no’ to that face?

“You know, my mother used to tell me about the stars. What they are, how they’re connected. You see that star over there?” Fareeha said, pointing to the brightest star in the sky.

“You mean Sirius?”

“Exactly. My mother told me the ancient Egyptians would call it Sopdet, the goddess of agricultural fertility. When Sopdet rises beyond the horizon just before sunrise, the Nile would flood and water everything in its path.“

Angela smiled. “A lovely story.”

“It’s one of the things I remembered about my mother. I wonder where she is now.”

Angela looked at Fareeha’s face. Resisting everything in her brain to tell her not to, Angela placed her hand over Fareeha’s.

“Well wherever she is, I’m sure she would be proud of you.”

They looked at each other intently. Angela’s resolve was cracking, and she let it. Fareeha was everything she wanted in a person, from her personality down to the last strand of hair on her head. Perhaps having someone was better than being by herself. Perhaps being alone is not the best solution.

The walkie-talkie blared amongst the utter silence.  _“Alpha Payload, this is Winston. How copy?”_

Angela grabbed the radio in a quick manner. The two broke eye contact and quickly lifted their hands from one another’s.

“Winston, this is Mercy. Lima Charlie.”

_“Tangos down. Payload is secure to move along. Just stick by it. Team 3 and 8 will be waiting at the checkpoint. Over.”_

“ _Verstanden_. Over and out.”        

They continued to carry conversations while sitting on the payload, trying to catch up and talk about the journeys they’ve taken after seeing each other all those years ago.

Angela’s hangover would be cured that night. As for her resolve, she could feel that crumble down with every word Fareeha uttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Act 2 is finally done. The more I play Overwatch, the more ideas I have about these two and their slow-burn developing romance. Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed it, please give it some kudos or comment on it!
> 
> -PW


	3. Act III - Pharah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The inability to save a loved one haunts her to this day. That’s why Angela is always alone. But her determination to remain along doesn’t last for long.

**9:24 PM – Lijiang, China**

Fareeha racked the barbell and wiped the sweat off her brow. She looked up at the mirror that stood in front of the weight rack and took a good look at the reminder of her failure earlier today. A hefty amount of bandages, tinged red, were tightly wrapped around her torso. In a bout of anger, she slammed her fists onto the mirror, instantly shattering it. Rivers of red ran down her hands. She didn’t care. She was furious and for good cause.

The mission was meant to be simple, since Reinhardt and Winston, along with several others, already took out many a mercenary before handing it off to Pharah’s team. It was supposed to be a textbook example of a control mission: take out the remaining Talon operatives at Lijiang Tower and secure it for usage. 

She shook her head in an attempt to thwart all thoughts of failure from her mind and decided to move onto the battling ropes. She swung her arms, hyperextending various regions of her body to match the intensity of her movements. She felt a slight tugging where her bandages are. She stopped to inspect the damage done.

Good. Pain is weakness leaving the body.

A slight hissing from the hatch behind her, along with slight footsteps, told her that someone was in the weight room with her. Fareeha paid no mind to it. Instead, she intensified her workout.

Suddenly, a pair of arms – long and elegant – wrapped around her waist, paying extra attention not to touch the bandages. Fareeha caught the strong scent of the person behind her and inhaled.

Edelweiss and disinfecting soap. She knows that combination of scents like the back of her hand.

“Something is troubling you.”

She threw the ropes down and straightened herself. “Is it that obvious?”

“Clearly, when I have to suture you up in more places that I’ve started.” Angela walked over to face her and sighed deeply, inspecting the damage done. “It’s like you don’t appreciate my hard work.”

“I’m sorry. It’s a force of habit. I promise I don’t take your meticulous sutures for granted.”

“And many of those scars you have appeared from this habit, ja?” Angela grabbed Fareeha’s wrists and dragged her towards the medical bay. “Come, schatz. Let’s get you patched up.”

Life had been a thousand times better ever since the night in Dorado so many moons ago. While most of their interactions had been stolen glances, brief touches, and the occasional care packages sent to each other every now and then, they were more than meaningful nonetheless. In the many years of being in establishments that were founded on the principles of professionalism and self-discipline, Fareeha finally felt truly happy for the first time. She was able to somewhat forget about bearing and let loose. She felt like she belonged here.

Angela snipped the last of the surgical wire on Fareeha’s torso with a pair of scissors. “You know, I think I have just the idea on how to cheer you up. Mei-Ling had been telling me that if I were ever to be here in Lijiang during the early months of spring, I must go to the lantern festival that occurs every year. And that is where I shall take you!”

“I don’t know, Angela. I’m not too fond of these-”

She put her finger onto Fareeha’s lips. “Uh-unh! I don’t want to hear any more excuses. Let me finish these sutures and we’ll set off! I’ve heard great things about the night market here!”

* * *

**10:46 PM - Lijiang Night Market, China**

The evening sky was a marvelous sight to behold, and with such great company. The night market was filled with a myriad of different sights and smells consisting of different foods to try out and tiny trinkets for the tourists. Angela grabbed Fareeha’s bandaged hand and took off to explore the foods of the local Chinese people full on. They had filled their stomachs with all kinds of food and drink: soup dumplings, traditional sticky rice dumplings, an adventurous plate of phoenix claws; only to wash it all down with several shots of Baijiu and cheap beer.

Overstuffed and slightly inebriated, the two set off, arm in arm, to walk amongst the festivities. On one side, the lantern riddle game captured the hearts of the children as they ran from lantern to lantern to solve the riddle. On the other, many tourists flocked towards the shock-and-awe lion dances. Everywhere they walked was filled with such life and vibrancy.

“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it, Fareeha?” Angela said, staring contently into the night sky. “It reminds me of that one night that we spent in Dorado.”

Fareeha chuckled. “I think this one’s more beautiful.”

“Well said, liebling.”

There was a calm silence between the two as they strolled past different faces along the paved road. A lantern vendor with a small rickshaw full of different sized lanterns and markers suddenly caught Angela’s eye.

“Look! There they are! Mei told me this was the number one thing you had to do during the festival.”

Fareeha didn’t think that the lanterns were worth as much as the vendor sold them. But then again, when would she ever come back to Lijiang?

Angela grabbed two markers from the stand and shoved one into Fareeha’s hand. “So how this works is that you purchase one of these paper lanterns and you write whatever you want. It can be the name of someone you love, or something you hope to achieve in the year, etc. Then when everyone has finished, you push them into the sky and send them off!”

“Seems easy enough.”

Fareeha took a long look at Angela. She was absolutely stunning under the luminescence of the lanterns. Fareeha chuckled at how hard Angela was thinking of who or what to write on her lantern. She, on the other hand, knew exactly whose name to write.

An announcer rang a bell and shouted – once in Mandarin and once in rather broken English – that it was time to send the lanterns into the sky. All of a sudden, thousands of lanterns pierced the black of the night and lit the entire sky. Gasps and hollers were heard from all different corners of the crowd.

“So.” Angela whispered. “What did you write on it?”

Fareeha smiled. “A name.”

“Oh? Then it must be a very important person in your life.”

She looked down at Angela, with any lingering thoughts of the mission completely erased from her mind, and wrapped her arm around her.

“Yes. Yes it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: I’ve probably rewritten this about a dozen times, and I’m still kind of iffy about this chapter, but I really wanted like something really fluffy and full of cute emotions between these two. So, why not at Lijiang, China? I also felt like writing something regarding the culture bc INSPIRED BY OLYMPICS so I decided to put my heritage knowledge to work. I did a mix of Chinese culture as well as Taiwanese because I am a proud Taiwanese American person okai like fight me if you say Chinese Taipei is a thing  
> If you like it, please give it some kudos or comment on it!
> 
> -PW
> 
> \--- 
> 
> Some extra information for this chapter:
> 
> Lantern Festival: Happens the 15th day of the 1st month in the Lunar Calendar cycle. AKA February or March in Gregorian Calendar standards.
> 
> Soup Dumpling (phonetically spelled Xiao Long Tang Bao): Little dumplings filled with soup based from pork. Usually eaten with soy sauce, vinegar, and shredded ginger.
> 
> Sticky Rice Dumplings (phonetically spelled Tang Yuan): Glutinous rice outside, usually filled with walnuts, sesame seeds, rock candy, and orange zest. Well for my family, that is. 
> 
> Phoenix Talons (phonetically spelled Fung Zhua): A fancy way to say cooked chicken feet. 
> 
> Baijiu: Millet liquor, AKA death in a bottle. The Chinese equivalent to strong vodka. It wrecks lives (also including mine).

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: I’ve been playing Overwatch since the beta and have not stopped thinking about writing about this wonderful ship. I’ve always seen people talk about 1. Drunk Mercy and 2. Alone Mercy, so I figured I’d take a stab at it. Thanks for reading, and if you like it, make sure to give it some kudos or even comment on it! 
> 
> -PW


End file.
